Old Legends
by Acendant
Summary: Chapter 5. The Demon of Fear and an ambitious Darklighter plan to unleash an ancient beast that feeds on the sun and the moon. Phoebe could not have picked a worse time for a spell to have gone wrong. R'n'R please
1. Trying to work

_Disclaimer. I don't own Charmed or any of the characters. Pity. _

A word before we begin; First, this story is set around the end of series six. Barbas is free, Phoebe has lost her active powers, The Charmed Ones don't know Gideon's plans yet and Chris is alive. Speaking of Chris, I don't know whether he reads comics or not but I needed to put it in somewhere, seeing as a lot of this story was inspired by a _Hellboy_storyI was reading at the time. The story Chris is reading is _Goodbye, Mister Todd_ from the _Right Hand of Doom_ collection. Most of the mythology I have mentioned is based on actual myths.

* * *

Old Legends

The Halliwell Family Book of Shadows contained some of the best information about the various spells and demons that existed in the world. For example, the section about Vampires not only detailed the traditional Dracula myth and the flashy types you find on TV, but also there was information about the Nosferatu, Chupacabra, Dhampyr, every type you could imagine. The difference between Moroii and Stigoi could be found if you knew where to look. However, near the end of this particular section there is a single paragraph, barely more than a few lines that tell of an old superstition. A vampire's equivalent of a folk tale, if you like. It is about a beast so great and powerful that it 'eats the sun and the moon and is able to cause eclipses'. There's not much else about it, not even a name. Some legends are undeservedly forgotten, none are undeservedly remembered.

-

Phoebe Halliwell sat by the kitchen table and ran through her mental checklist before beginning. Coffee, phone off the hook, laptop, earmuffs, Paige away making sure that P3 survived Piper being away, Chris off doing whatever it was he did when he disappeared, Piper, Leo and baby Wyatt all safe at the Magic School and absolutely no demons to worry about. Nothing on heaven or earth was going to stop her from finishing her advice column today. She opened her email account to start with the letters she had sent herself from the office. Workmen were in rewiring the newspaper offices and the distractions were getting a little too much for her tastes. She read the first letter in peace, enjoying the coffee as she thought about what to say in reply. The sound of orbing was too loud even through the earmuffs.

"What is the big idea? I've been calling for the past half an hour!" It was Paige, and she sounded grouchy. Phoebe tried pretending that the earmuffs really did work.

"Phoebe!" Paige stormed over to her and yanked then offending items from Phoebe's head.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Phoebe protested.

"My car broke down. And I have been trying to call you from the garage but I couldn't get through"

"Why didn't you try the office?" Phoebe tried pathetically

"I did! They told me you had taken your work home!" Paige was livid

"Well, what do you need a car for anyway? You can orb"

"That's not the point!" Her sister stormed as she put the phone back on the hook.

Phoebe could tell she was losing. And to think, all that she had wanted was to write her column in peace.

-

Somebody else was looking to work in peace at the exact same moment. Ames Edams was trying to read a book on Romanian folklore. His eyes stopped on a page that contained an interesting story. It was about an old woman who had woken up at midnight, thought it was morning and had gone to church. She had been surprised to find it full of people she didn't recognise. A strange minister went up to the pulpit and began to preach, and little by little the woman realised that all of the people around her were dead. Terrified, she tried to sneak out that way she had came, but the dead knew her for what she was and she barely escaped with her life. Ames sighed and threw the book away. He knew that particular tale to be Norwegian, not Romanian. He rubbed his eyes in a tired manner and pulled another book towards him. At that moment another man appeared beside him, pretty much the same way that Paige had appeared beside Phoebe earlier. The only difference was that the man blinked instead of orbed.

"More books. Ames, I don't see the point in all this. All these books" The Warlock sat down across the table from Ames.

"I don't expect that you would. I always did think that warlocks were too impatient for their own good" Ames continued reading. The Warlock sniffed loudly, clearly insulted.

"Like you Darklighters are so superior. Without your crossbows you are useless"

"And what, may I ask, makes you so special?" Ames didn't even look at him.

"I stole a power from a demon" The Warlock leaned forward, opening the palm of one hand. An athame materialised in his grip.

"Conjuring, not that uncommon" Ames sounded nonplussed.

"I could steal any power from any demon. Just name me one and I'll have its power by the end of the day" The Warlock stabbed the blade into the desk where it stood upright

"How impressive" Ames said dryly. The Warlock snorted.

"I'd like to see a Darklighter do better. I could steal your powers right now, but I don't want to damage any of your precious books. What are you looking for anyway? If that thing is nearly half as powerful as you said then it's going to take a lot more than you or me to control it"

"Oh good, you do have a brain after all. There will be a way to control it; I just haven't found it yet. I see you doing nothing to help"

The Warlock picked up one of the books and started flipping through it idly.

"Maybe it's scared of fire. Most vampires are" he said proudly. For the first time, Ames looked straight at the Warlock. An idea forming in his mind

"Are you saying use its fear to control it?" he asked. The Warlock's face grew pale. There was only one demon that could do that.

"You don't mean Barbas, do you?"

"Who else could do it?"

"No. I'm not going to Barbas. He's too powerful" said The Warlock. A thin smile found its way into Ames' face. He stood up and walked around the table.

"But you just finished telling me about how you could steal any demon's powers" he said

"You would have to be insane to even think about trying anything against someone as strong as he is!" Ames leaned forwards and whispered in his ear.

"Not scared, are you? If you are then I think I'd be better off doing this deal with him, don't you think?"

What the Warlock thought was never going to be found out. Ames had pulled the athame from the desk. The Warlock burned. Afterwards Ames looked at the athame. It was one designed to take powers from its victims. He didn't really have any use for the Warlock's blinking ability, but the conjuring power had actually been rather good.

-

Chris had decided to spend some time at Magic School. For as long as he had been in the past he had been dedicated to his mission to save his brother Wyatt. Now that it looked like he had succeeded he was a little unsure of what to do next. Finding a way to return to his own time was proving harder than he had thought, and Leo had suggested that he take a well earned break for a little while and let someone else worry for a change. The crèche had been having a little trouble with a young fire starter who had set fire to the room when he couldn't get the toy he wanted. Deciding to take his father's advice, Chris had offered to look after his brother while the repairs were done. He was sat with Wyatt on a chair, reading a story.

"Well, the things made of ectoplasm" Chris read, "And ectoplasm is mostly fluid from the medium's body. This things so damn big it sucked your boss dry. Lucky for us there wasn't enough juice in him for this thing to form completely…"

"Chris! What are you reading to your brother?" Piper shouted across the room at him. Chris hadn't even noticed her come in.

"It's just a comic book" Chris protested. Wyatt gurgled as Piper took the offending item from her son's hands.

"A comic book about demons" Piper flicked through a few pages. "Look at this, there are people blowing up in this and you consider it suitable reading for a child"

"But you blow demons up all the time" Chris argued

"That is different. I don't tell stories about it" Chris knew when he was beaten. Piper continued to flick through.

"I thought it would be educational" Chris muttered.

"Educational? It's a comic book. It's not real. I've never seen anything called a..." she picked a page at random "…a Vârcolac in the Book of Shadows"

Chris didn't argue. Piper was clearly unhappy about this. Even Wyatt was quieter than usual. Chris had a feeling that he wasn't going to see that particular comic again any time soon.

-

Paige's car was going to be in the garage until the end of the week. In the end Phoebe gave up trying to argue and gave her sister her car to use till then. Now she really needed to get her column wrote. She had just finished giving Paige her car keys when the phone rang. She picked it up, clearly annoyed

"Yes" she snapped angrily, only for her voice to soften instantly.

"Oh Donna! Hello, I wasn't shouting at you. I thought that it was my sister calling…" Piper was at Magic School, wasn't she? And Paige had just gone out the door. Phoebe realised just how stupid she had been. Donna was the new assistant editor at the paper, and everyone knew that she had her eye on the top chair.

"The article? I'm writing it right now. Well, obviously not Right now, I'm talking to you right now, but it is getting written, don't you worry" Phoebe babbled. Donna had a gift. She could reduce even the most calm and collected person in existence to a gibbering wreck. When stuck for inspiration Phoebe had entertained a daydream about what would happen if she locked Donna in a room with the various demons she had fought over the years. So far she had reduced warlocks to tears, convinced Smoker Demons to switch to nicotine patches, made Banshees lose their voices and even make the Horsemen of the Apocalypse promise to play nice. However, the Demon of Fear had left Phoebe stumped. She couldn't decide who that would be crueller on. As Donna continued her speech about punctuality an inner Phoebe suddenly became aware that her deadline had just been halved.

"I'll be expecting you work on my desk by this evening, unless that's too hard for you?" Donna's silky tones drifted down the phone line. Phoebe waited till Donna hung up, and then groaned loudly. Halved was being generous. Phoebe hadn't had to have that article written for another two days. First Paige, then Donna, why was everyone so impatient today? Clearly, something had to be done.


	2. Phoebe's spell

Ames orbed into a darkened cavern, unsure of what to expect. He was the type of person who took pride in meticulously planning every single detail down to the ground. He was well known among Darklighters for his ability to plan for every possible outcome. He hated leaving anything to chance, believing even the slightest margin of error to be unacceptable. If anything he was a perfectionist. What he was doing now went against everything that he held true but he just didn't have a choice any more, he was running out of time. Ames had expected the Warlock to be nothing more than a means to an end. As much as he hated to admit it there was no way that he could have done the preparations by himself. The Warlock had actually proved more useful than Ames had anticipated; the conjuring power had been an unexpected bonus and the idea of using fear to control it hadn't even occurred to Ames. That led to the current problem. The Demon of Fear was one of the most powerful in existence. Ames had no idea how to approach him. His usual approach would be to find out everything that he could before beginning but there just wasn't enough time anymore. So here he was, unprepared, unsure of what to expect, unready should things go wrong

"That's funny, I don't remember sending out invitations" A voice spoke to Ames' left. He spun sharply, aiming his crossbow at the sound.

"Try again" The voice taunted from directly behind Ames. Keeping a grip on the crossbow with one hand he conjured a dagger and slashed out in the direction the voice had come from. There was nothing there.

"No more games, Demon, show yourself!" Ames called out. Flames filled the centre of the cave, and then disappeared just as quickly to reveal the figure of Barbas, the Demon of Fear.

"A Darklighter with guts. Mind explaining why you're snooping around in my lair?" he asked casually. Ames did the one thing then that he hated. Without his plans to fall back on he didn't know what else to do. He hesitated. Barbas laughed.

"You do know? Don't you? You look like the type who always knows what they are doing, so what makes now so different?" Barbas wove his hand over Ames face and smirked slightly at what he saw.

"My lord, I come to you…" Ames began.

"Because you're greatest fear is failure. And don't call me a lord, I hate suck ups"

"Then you know of my plan?" the Darklighter asked

"Of course I do! And you need my help to pull the strings on your little puppet because you can't do it yourself and you don't dare go back to the other Darklighters and say you failed" Barbas taunted. He sat down on a nearby rock. Ames watched him warily.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Convince me!" The Demon challenged him.

-

Phoebe lit the last candle and sat down in the circle she had cast on the attic floor. Her sisters would not be happy about her using a spell like this, especially after she had lost her active powers through personal gain, but the first line of the spell she had written stated clearly that it wasn't meant for her. At least, that was the theory, if people wanted to do things like give her a little more time then she couldn't exactly refuse, could she? Phoebe relaxed then read the spell.

"I cast this spell not for myself,

But for those in need of reprieve.

Where patience is sought

Let peace be wrought

Giving all the time to breathe"

The candles glowed with a faint blue light that rose and spun around the room before spreading out through the manor. After a while the glow faded. Phoebe went downstairs to see what had happened. Everything looked all right. She picked up the phone.

"Donna? Hello, I'm calling about my article. You see, I need a little more time and I was wondering if I could possibly get an extension. Please?" She winced, expecting the worst.

"Of course Phoebe, take as long as you need. There's no need to rush" Donna's voice came down the phone line. Phoebe almost dropped the phone in surprise.

"Thank you! Thank you so much! That's fantastic, thank you" said Phoebe. Donna didn't answer so Phoebe hung up. She laughed, and then did a little dance on the spot, before going back to the kitchen to get back to work.

-

Paige pulled the car into the parking lot behind P3. As she stood up a feeling of complete relaxation filled her up like a warm drink on a cold day. She had been silly to snap at Phoebe like that, and Phoebe had been right, she could orb so why all the fuss over a car? Paige smiled happily and sauntered casually into the club.

-

All over the city people were experiencing the same relaxing sensation that Paige had felt. Suddenly troubles just melted away and people felt happy. Nobody seemed bothered by anything that happened; they all just smiled happily and carried on.

-

Not at the Magic School, there were too many protection spells over it for Phoebe's spell to affect it. So life there went on as normal. Ames had done an incredible job of covering his tracks. Had the books he had stolen been discovered lost before now his plan would have been found out and stopped. The Darklighter had prepared for this and as a result, when Sigmund came to look for the one book Ames had managed to steal from the Magic School it had been gone for months and nobody had suspected a thing. Sigmund was confused; he checked the records in case it had been checked out. According to the librarian it should have still been on its shelf. He checked again in case he had missed it. Finally, having searched the library from top to bottom, he went to Gideon.

-

After a while Gideon summoned Leo. He had been a little reluctant to call Piper because she was so close to giving birth but there was no keeping secrets from the eldest of the Charmed Ones. Chris was still watching Wyatt so he was absent. Sigmund watched the two Elders with a sinking feeling in his stomach.

"Explain this to me in plain old English, what has happened?" Piper asked him.

"Well, there is a book in the library about old legends. I thought I remembered a story about a wizard that could bend time so I thought it would be helpful in finding a way to send Chris home"

"But…" Piper pressed. Sigmund felt a lump in his throat.

"The err… the book has, err… disappeared" he said

"The book has disappeared?" clearly Piper wasn't convinced that this was serious.

"Are you absolutely sure that a student didn't take it without permission?" Leo was asking. Gideon was shaking his head.

"Our Librarian is extremely thorough, and there are enchantments on the books to prevent that from happening. If the book is on the grounds it should return here immediately when called" Gideon explained.

"Have you tried it yet?" Leo asked. Gideon gave him a dumbfounded look. Then he held out his hands and called out "Reddere Librarius!" Nothing happened.

"It was the first thing I did when Sigmund came to me" said the Elder. Leo nodded apologetically.

"What are you saying? You think that someone stole a book from your library?" Piper jumped in.

"Piper, that's a pretty serious thing to be accusing someone of" said Leo

"And they would have had to find a way around all the protection spells in place" said Gideon.

"But it is possible?" Piper pressed them "Look, I'll call my sisters and I'm sure that we can get this sorted out. It's the least we can do to thank you for all your help"

"Thank you, you are most generous" Gideon said with a small smile. Part of him was glad that Wyatt wasn't present. He didn't think he could bear talking to Piper or Leo when their son was concerned. It made the knowledge of what he had to do all the more painful. Leo was already orbing to the manor.

-

The Underworld was also unaffected by Phoebe's spell. Barbas had agreed to help Ames but the Darklighter couldn't figure out why and it was making him very nervous. Upper level Demons usually had their own agenda. Ames knew that, he just couldn't figure out for the life of him what Barbas wanted. Not knowing was driving Ames insane, he didn't trust the Demon. At least if he knew why Barbas was helping him then he'd have some idea of how reliable he was.

Barbas, for his part, could see just how edgy Ames uncertainty was making him and found it amusing. Ames had obviously put a lot of work into making his plan a success and now that it was nearing completion the prospect of it failing was now more real than ever. It was funny watching the Darklighter tear himself apart rather than risk anything going wrong, and his insecurity over Barbas' involvement only made it more entertaining. He had his own reasons for getting involved but right now he decided to keep them to himself. It was more fun that way

-

Leo orbed into the kitchen to find Phoebe typing on her laptop. She had ditched the earmuffs in favour of a CD player and some headphones. Leo tapped her gently on the shoulder, making her jump.

"Ah! What's the big idea scaring me like that?" Phoebe cried out, spinning around to face Leo and pulling the headphones off.

"There's been a bit of a situation at the Magic School. Where's Paige?" said Leo

"A situation? Is Piper ok?"

"Piper's fine, and so are Chris and Wyatt before you ask. We think something's been stolen from the library. Piper wants you and Paige to come and help her find out what happened" Leo explained.

"Paige went to P3 a little while ago. She should be there by now. But Leo, I have to warn you, she may be in a bad mood"

-

Leo orbed himself and Phoebe to Piper's office at P3. In the bar itself they found Paige sitting on a bar stool and humming to herself. Apart from that the bar was empty. It was the middle of the day and the club wasn't open for business yet, but there were usually a few staff members here by this time.

"Paige, where is everybody?" Phoebe asked. Paige smiled

"They're not here yet, but don't worry about it. There's still plenty of time to get everything ready" she said. Leo and Phoebe exchanged glances.

"What happened to grouchy Paige from this morning?" Phoebe asked

"Yeah, I was being silly, wasn't I? You can have the car back now. I can orb" Paige was still smiling.

"Phoebe, I thought you said she was in a bad mood" Leo whispered in Phoebe's ear

"She was this morning. She was snapping and moody and if I didn't know better I'd say she had serious PMS".

"Anyway, we should get going. Piper wants to see everyone at Magic School" said Leo. He took Phoebe's hand and orbed. A few seconds later they orbed back to P3 where Paige was still sitting and smiling.

"Oh, you mean now?" she asked them


	3. At the manor

Paige sat on the table staring off into space and humming gently. Piper waved a hand in front of her face. Paige didn't react.

"Phoebe, what did you do?" said Piper. Phoebe winced.

"Why do you think it's something I did?" she asked

"Well, I doubt that Paige would do this to herself and I know I didn't cast any spells. So unless there's a demon of happiness about I think you've got some explaining to do"

"Ok, I cast a spell. But it was just to make people less stressed out. That can't be bad, can it?" Phoebe explained. Piper wasn't having it.

"Less stressed. Phoebe, you turned her into a hippy!" Piper began before pausing. Something had just occurred to her, "Wait, you said people. What people?"

"Paige, and my boss, but that was it. I swear!" Phoebe pleaded. Leo and Gideon orbed in. They had gone to discuss Paige's situation with the rest of the Elders.

"It's not just Paige. Whitelighters all over the world have been reporting in with their charges all showing the same symptoms. The same blissful state and relaxed attitude everywhere" said Leo. Piper turned to Phoebe with a severe look on her face.

"And quite a few other people" she said

"Not just witches either, literally everyone. Even demons that weren't in the Underworld at the time the spell was cast were affected" Gideon told them.

"Don't be mad" said Phoebe.

"Don't be mad, don't be mad, Phoebe you turned everyone into hippies! Of course I'm going to be mad" Piper shouted.

"It's ok, Phoebe can put it right. There's plenty of time for this all to just blow over" supplied Paige in a dreamy sort of way.

"Leo, we are going to the Manor to find Phoebe's hippy spell and come up with a way to undo it. Is Chris still watching Wyatt?" asked Piper

"Yes, I'll tell him where you've gone" said Leo. Phoebe and Piper took hold of Paige's hands. She looked blankly at them.

"Orb, missy!" Piper commanded.

-

There was a Darklighter in the living room. He had put his crossbow on the coffee table and was watching the TV. Clearly he was under Phoebe's patience spell. He looked up as the Charmed Ones materialised.

"Hello" he said amiably.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what is wrong with this picture?" Piper shouted. Paige was waving at the Darklighter.

"Oh this? I'm supposed to be waiting in ambush. Ames wants me to distract you while he goes to see Barbas" said the Darklighter in that same good natured tone.

"Barbas? As in 'The Demon of Fear' Barbas? And who is Ames?" asked Phoebe. Piper glanced at her.

"Ames is kinda like my boss, I suppose. And I don't know anyone else called Barbas. Sorry"

Piper grabbed Phoebe by the arm and dragged her into the kitchen. Paige sat down on the couch and said 'Hi' to the Darklighter.

"Ok, there is a Darklighter in our living room and he is just sitting there telling us who sent him. I don't like this. Why is he here?" said Piper

"I know, it's weird. I didn't think my spell would work like this" said Phoebe.

"Yes, but that still doesn't tell us what this Ames guy is up to or how Barbas is involved"

"Why don't we ask him?"

"Ask him? The Darklighter?"

"Why not? He's answered everything else so far"

They went back to the living room. The Darklighter was still there.

"Hello, Mr. Darklighter, why are you distracting us?" asked Phoebe, earning herself a disbelieving look from her older sister.

"Ames is going to summon something. I don't know what it is, but Ames says that it's strong enough to eat the sun and the moon. I'm here because he doesn't want to be stopped and you're the Charmed Ones, stopping evil is kinda like your job"

"So why is he seeing the Demon of Fear?" asked Piper

"Because Ames can't control the beast but he thinks that Barbas can" The Darklighter's cheerfulness was unsettling. Piper put two and two together. She didn't like what she came up with.

"Did Ames steal a book from the Magic School?" she asked.

"Yeah, that was Ames" Piper nodded, and then she stood in front of the intruder.

"I'm going to vanquish you now" she said

"Ok" said the Darklighter. Piper and Phoebe exchanged looks.

"Well, would you mind standing up? I don't want to burn the couch" Piper asked him. To her surprise, he stood up.

"Is this better?" he asked. Piper blew him up.

"Phoebe, reversing your spell is going to have to wait. This sounds big"

"I'll see what I can find in the Book of Shadows but I've never heard of anything that can eat the sun and moon" said Phoebe as she went to the attic.

"What can I do?" Paige asked.

"Err, why don't you go and tell Gideon that we know what happened to his book?" Piper suggested.

-

Ames was drawing runes on the cavern floor. He had everything planned down to the smallest detail. Nothing could go wrong now.

"Still rushing to get finished, Ames? You know that you can't summon the thing until midnight" Barbas had materialised behind him.

"Don't tell me that the witches spell has affected you too" said Ames.

"No, no, but you may like to know that one of the Charmed Ones got the full blast" Barbas kicked at one of the runes, smudging the design. He smirked at the look on Ames face as the Darklighter went to correct it. Barbas waited until Ames was on the ground before dangling a small, blood red amulet in front of his face.

"Is that it?" Ames asked

"Is this the amulet that contains a drop of blood from the saint who destroyed your monster the first time it was summoned all those centuries ago? Why yes, I do believe it is!" said Barbas, swinging the amulet like a pendulum.

"Where did you find it?" Ames asked as he reached for it. Barbas snatched it away.

"My secret. Let's just say I had to kill quite a few people to get it"

"Do you realise how vital that amulet is? I've had my agents searching for it for months!" Ames said quietly. He stared at the amulet in Barbas' hand as though it were the most beautiful thing he had ever seen

"In that case, I think I'd best keep a hold of it" said Barbas before he teleported away.

-

Leo found Chris and Wyatt in a quiet room. Chris had spent the past half an hour trying to get Wyatt to take a nap but it wasn't happening.

"Chris, Piper wanted you to know that she's gone back to the manor with Phoebe and Paige" Leo said to them. From the crib where he was sitting, Wyatt giggled and pointed at Chris. The comic that Piper had taken was orbed back into his hand.

"That's right, wait till mom's gone!" said Chris sarcastically. Wyatt laughed.

"Am I missing something?" Leo asked

"Wyatt and I were reading this earlier. I guess he wants to know how the story ends. Anyway, why have they gone to the manor? Does it have anything to do with the missing book?"

"No, Phoebe cast a spell that went wrong; they're trying to reverse it"

"Well, if you don't mind watching Wyatt I could go and help them" Chris offered.

"That could be for the best. Paige was affected by the spell"

"Affected, how?" Chris asked

"You'd better see for yourself" said Leo. Chris handed him the comic book before he orbed.

-

Chris appeared in the kitchen to find Paige stirring what looked like a thick brown potion.

"Paige, where are Piper and Phoebe?" Chris asked her as she took her concoction off the heat.

"They're upstairs reading the Book of Shadows" she said, stirring the mixture a few times to even it out.

"Are you ok? Leo said that you'd been affected by a spell"

"I'm fine". Happy with the mixture, Paige picked up a box of cornflakes and added them to the mix.

"Paige, what are you doing?"

"Well, Piper said to tell Gideon that we know that a Darklighter called Ames stole his book and is working with Barbas to summon some kind of demon. Then I thought we should have a vanquishing potion to vanquish the demon. Then I realised that it was stupid because I didn't even know what the demon was, and then I remembered that I haven't made any of these in a very long time. Can you pass me some of those paper things please?" Paige pointed to some muffin cases on the bench.

"Piper! Phoebe! What's going on?" Chris shouted. Piper came into the kitchen.

"Paige? What is this?"

"Well, after you told me to…"

"I think I'd better tell her, you finish what you're doing" Chris cut her off. Paige smiled.

"What is going on here? Dad said that there was a spell gone wrong"

"Long story. Chris, can you go tell Gideon that we know where his book is"

"Yeah, Paige told me about the Darklighter and Barbas"

"Good, and can you ask him if he knows anything about a demon that can eat the sun and the moon? Phoebe and I can't find anything in the Book of Shadows"

"Eats the sun and moon" Chris repeated, "I've heard that before somewhere, I'm sure of it"

"Do you know where?"

"I'm sorry, I can't remember. But I know I have heard that before somewhere. I'll see what Gideon knows" Chris promised.


	4. Evil Intentions

Barbas had found Ames' lair. Ames orbed in to find one of the old volumes he had forgotten and found the Demon of Fear sat back casually flipping through the exact book he had came for. Barbas wore the amulet he had taunted Ames with around his neck and had made sure that it was in plain view at all times.

"They are recognised by their pale faces and dry skin, and by the deep sleep into which they fall when they go to the moon and eat it. When the spirit of the Vârcolac wants to eat the moon, the man to which the spirit belongs begins to nod, falls into a deep sleep as if he had not slept for weeks, and remains as if dead. If he is roused or moved the sleep becomes eternal, for, when the spirit returns from its journey it cannot find the mouth out of which it came and so cannot go in." Barbas read aloud. "Are you sure this thing exists? This sounds like the work of a Shaman to me"

"It exists. It needs a willing soul in order to make it live" argued Ames, moving in closer

"And whose soul did you have in mind?"

"I had planned on using my own"

"Aha, the plot thickens" Barbas laughed

"What are you implying?"

"Nothing, nothing at all. It all just sounds a bit suspect in my opinion. You mean to tell me that you are going to willingly offer your own soul to this thing" Barbas leaned forward in the chair and passing his hand over Ames face, "This thing that you fear losing control of so much that you had to beg me for my help? It has to go deeper than that"

"I have my reasons, but like you I choose to keep them to myself" Ames chose his words carefully. His eye flicked to the amulet for the barest hint of a second. It was so vital to his plan, and now Barbas would certainly know why.

"Do Darklighters even have souls?" asked the Demon with a wicked gleam in his eye. Ames snorted.

"I need that book in order to finish the preparations. And I will need the amulet" he said. Barbas dropped the book on the table and leaned back in the chair. Ames held the Demon's gaze as he picked it up.

"And now that you mention it, I think you're right. I should use a different soul. Lucky for me the witch's spell has made so many people so willing to co-operate"

Ames orbed away. He would have to find another way to get his hands on the amulet, it was too important to his plan.

-

Phoebe was having very little luck. She had brought the Book of Shadows downstairs and was now sat on the couch flicking through the pages looking for, well, anything really. She could find demons that feared the sun and creatures that worshipped the moon but nothing that mentioned both. Piper came in with coffee.

"Thank you, you're the best" Phoebe said to her as she took the cup

"Chris dropped by. I asked him to tell Gideon what we know seeing as Paige is too preoccupied" said Piper, lowering herself into a comfy chair. The sound of humming drifted in from the kitchen.

"She keeps saying 'don't worry, plenty of time for that later'. It is driving me insane" Piper grumbled, "Any luck with the book?"

"Nothing. I don't know, maybe it was in the book that was stolen" said Phoebe, dumping the book on the table and rubbing her eyes.

"Chris thought he'd heard of something, he wasn't too sure though" said Piper

"Something from the future?"

"Could be" Piper looked down at her bump. It wouldn't be long until Baby Chris was born. Phoebe picked the Book of Shadows back up.

-

Chris found Gideon talking to the Librarian. He waited until the Elder had finished his discussion before approaching him.

"We think we know what's happened. It looks like a Darklighter called Ames managed to steal the book and he's planning to summon something that feeds on the sun and the moon" Chris told him

"The sun and the moon. I can't say that sounds familiar" said Gideon

"That's just it, I'm sure I've heard of something like that. I just can't think of where" said Chris, frustration leaking into his voice. Gideon nodded.

"I'm sure that whatever it is, you and the Charmed Ones will find out. At the moment I'm more concerned with how a Darklighter was able to take something from within these walls. It's impossible for Evil to gain forced entry, there are too many protection spells. So someone must have helped him"

"Gideon, there's something else. The sisters think that Barbas is involved somehow. We don't know how yet". Gideon's face grew grim.

"This is serious. The Demon of Fear wouldn't have concerned himself with this unless it was significantly bigger than a mere stolen book. I'll consult the other Elders, and I think it best that you inform Leo immediately" With that he orbed. Chris went to find Leo.

-

Phoebe had given up on the book and had decided to try scrying instead. She had attached one of the Darklighter's arrows to her scrying crystal and held it over a map.

"Hey, careful with that thing! Half Whitelighter baby here, or did you forget?" Piper protested. She had taken over checking the Book of Shadows. She now held it up like a shield whenever Phoebe came too close. Paige was still in the kitchen.

"Are you sure this is going to work? That isn't one of Ames' arrows"

"No, but it is one of Ames' minions' arrows. Trust me, it'll work" Phoebe assured her sister. Piper wasn't convinced.

"Shouldn't we at least wait and see if Chris can find anything?" she tried as Phoebe called out in triumph. The crystal pulled forwards and landed on the map. It was pointed straight at the Bay Mirror offices. Phoebe looked straight at her sister.

"Chris? Chris!" Piper called out. In response balls of white light filled the living room as Chris materialised.

"What's wrong? I found Gideon but he didn't know anything. He was more worried when I told him about Barbas" Chris reported before he noticed the scrying tools.

"We found Ames. He's at the Bay Mirror. Obviously Piper can't go and Paige is still… you know. That leaves you and me. Let's go" Phoebe ordered as she grabbed his arm. He looked across at Piper, who nodded.

"Be careful, you don't get to be senior Darklighter because of you sunny disposition" she said as Chris orbed.

-

The Bay Mirror offices were a mess. The workmen who were supposed to be rewiring had stopped work, leaving their tools and the old and new wires lying around and were now sat around a desk playing Blackjack. The few employees who had chosen to come into work today were sat around doing nothing at all. Ames brazenly orbed into the centre of the main office and cast a disdainful look at them. A few people looked up but other than that nobody reacted. The Darklighter reached into his pocket and pulled out a small blue vial filled with a clear liquid. This was going to be easier than he had thought.

"People! I need a soul; I've decided that I want one of yours. I don't care whose"

"Why do you need a soul?" asked a woman. Maybe she had been in charge here. She wasn't now.

"Yours will do" he said, holding the vial towards her.

"Will I get it back?" she asked naively. Ames smiled.

"Of course, just drink this"

The woman took hold of the vial and swallowed the contents. A moment later she slumped forwards. A beautiful sliver light floated out of her mouth like smoke and was instantly sucked into the vial. Ames took it and sealed it so that none would escape. The vial glowed as if lit from within. Ames couldn't believe just how easy that had been. The witches spell had rendered the entire world so passive. The fools would do anything they were told.

"Stop right there!" a voice shouted. Ames looked around to see that two more figures had appeared. He didn't recognise the young man, but the entire Underworld knew a Charmed One when they saw one.

"You're the Witch responsible for this? Thank you, I never could have done this without your help" he said, holding up the vial.

"What is that?" said the Charmed One. Ames smirked, emboldened by his success.

"That woman's soul. Careful, try anything and I'll break it" Ames taunted, spotting her companion raise his hand. The two of them hesitated for a second. That was all the time Ames needed to orb away with his prize.

-

Chris ran to the fallen woman's side. Phoebe followed close behind.

"What happened to her?" she asked. One of the workmen looked up.

"That weird guy gave her a drink out of a little blue bottle and she fell over. Wanna play?" he held up the deck of cards. Chris checked her pulse.

"She's alive, barely. I don't know how long she'll stay that way" he reported. Phoebe gasped in surprise. She had seen the woman's face.

"That's Donna! That's my boss!"


	5. Naming the Beast

_Authors note; I'm mentioning once again that the comic in question is the Hellboy 'Right hand of Doom' collection by Mike Mignola. Most of the mythology does exist but I have taken severe liberties with it._

_

* * *

_

Piper managed to convince Paige to orb the two of them back to the Magic School. It wasn't that hard. Someone under the spell would do anything they were asked, just as long as it wasn't too difficult. Chris and Phoebe were already there. They had brought Donna with them. She was lying on a bed and was unconscious. Leo was trying to heal her while Chris explained what had happened. Phoebe was holding Wyatt, who was crying.

"This isn't right, Darklighters don't steal souls. I wish I knew what he was doing" said Phoebe, rubbing her nephew's back to try and calm him. Paige stood idly staring off into space. Piper took her baby from her sister. Leo was having no luck.

"This just doesn't make any sense. First off this Ames guy steals a book from here, and Gideon is convinced that he must have had help to do that, and then he makes friends with Barbas and steals Phoebe's boss' soul. Why?" Chris said aloud

"What else do we know?" Leo asked.

"Just some story about a monster vampire that feeds on the sun and the moon and can cause eclipses" said Piper. Wyatt hiccupped a few times in her arms. She sat down with him and carefully took a piece of paper from her pocket

"Vampire? Where did you get that bit from?" asked Phoebe

"Book of Shadows, It's in the vampire section. 'A creature that the vampires both fear and adore, they tell tales of one so great that he eats the sun and the moon and can cause eclipses'" Piper read from the paper, "That's it, no vanquishing spell or potion, not even a name"

"Chris knows what it is!" said Paige cheerfully

"No, I said I was sure I'd heard of something. I just can't remember where" said Chris. Leo looked thoughtful.

"The sun and the moon? I think I may know something. I remember hearing about a man who lives in Romania. If the stories are right then he is descended from a saint who defeated a creature that tried to consume the moon. It may be the same thing"

"Donna's as safe as she's going to be here, we should go check this out" said Chris. Phoebe nodded.

"I'm coming too. I owe it to Donna" she said as she grabbed hold of Leo's arm. Leo glanced across at Piper and Wyatt before he, Chris and Phoebe orbed. Wyatt grumbled a little as his father left, then he orbed Chris' comic into Piper's hands.

"I thought I took this off you" she said. Beside her, Paige beamed.

"Aww, he just wants you to read him a story. There's time for that"

Piper looked up at her youngest sister. The new mega happy Paige was really starting to get on her nerves.

"You, come with me. We're going to reverse this spell if it's the last thing we do. Come on" Piper stood up, put her son in a pushchair and dragged her sister by the arm

-

Ames had returned to his lair, but not before he had found a safe place to hide the woman's soul. Now he just had to figure out some way of getting the amulet from Barbas. A quick search revealed that, just as he had suspected, the book was gone.

"Damn you Barbas" Ames said quietly to himself.

-

Phoebe was thinking the same thing. Leo had taken them to a small village in Romania, the type that anyone looking to film the latest 'Dracula' movie would do back flips over broken glass for. At first she had thought it was deserted, or maybe her spell had affected here as well. But then Chris had found the first body. A man who looked about thirty, except for the fact that his hair was now shocking white. There was only one demon that killed that way. Phoebe felt sick. The man had plucked out his own eyes to try to escape whatever it was that the Demon of Fear had tortured him with. After that she, Chris and Leo found other bodies. All of them had been driven mad from their fears. Some, like the first man, had tried to fight. Others had simply given up the will to live. Some, driven by madness, had turned against their families and friends. The worst were the ones Barbas had left alive. Their minds had been destroyed; they were now little more than prisoners locked away in their own bodies, all trapped in cells of flesh that they could never escape. It was horrible. Finally Leo found the home of the man he was looking for. He came out looking pale.

"Leo?" Phoebe didn't know what to say. Leo looked like he was about to throw up.

"You don't want to know" was all that he would say.

-

In the darkened lair Ames sat and thought to himself. Everything was starting to fall apart and he could not let that happen. He conjured a replica of the amulet that Barbas had taken and tried to think of some way to switch the two without the Demon realising. It wasn't going to work, the Darklighter could tell. Frustrated, he threw the copy away and watched as it disappeared now that it wasn't wanted. An idea started to form in his mind. One of the Charmed Ones had the power to telekinetically orb objects from one place to another. He conjured the power stripping athame and held it thoughtfully for a while. The witch would no doubt be protected by her sisters if she was the one affected by the spell, and if she wasn't then it would be suicide to try anything. But she couldn't be the only witch to have that power, could she?

-

Piper was starting to get very annoyed. Paige kept saying things like 'calm down' and 'there's time' and it was getting on her nerves. Sigmund had offered to help her reverse the spell. He had gone to the manor to find if Phoebe had left it written down somewhere. Wyatt was playing contentedly in a playpen. Piper sat down for a moment, wondering how Leo was doing when she heard the sound of orbing. She looked down at her lap. Wyatt had orbed Chris' comic to her.

"How many times…" she muttered, putting it on the end of the table. Paige looked up.

"You've got time to read him a story, Sigmund isn't even back yet" she said. Piper rolled her eyes.

"I've got it! I found it!" A slightly out of breath Sigmund ran into the room brandishing a piece of paper. Piper took it.

"I can see what went wrong too, The line 'giving all the time to breathe'. Phoebe didn't specify anyone so the spell affected everyone who wasn't in a protected area" He explained as Piper read.

"It's not like Phoebe to make a mistake like that" Piper mused

"She didn't take her time. You make mistakes when you rush" said Paige sagely. Sigmund helped Piper up.

"The sooner we reverse the spell the better" she was saying as she knocked the side of the table. The comic that Wyatt was so fond of fell to the floor. It landed open. Sigmund picked it up and handed it to Piper, who took it feeling slightly disgruntled. She looked at the open page. It contained a foreword from the author. One line in particular caught her eye.

"Sigmund, where's Gideon?" she asked.

"Why?"

"Read this". He took the book and read the part Piper pointed out.

"The Vârcolac. This story was inspired by a single paragraph I read twenty years ago describing a type of Romanian vampire which "eats the sun and the moon and is able to cause eclipses". Piper, you don't think that…"

"That the very thing I've been looking for in the Book of Shadows and wasn't there turned up in a comic? That doesn't matter; just find out everything you can about a Vârcolac" Piper commanded. Then she looked down to where her son was smiling impishly.

"Ooh, was mommy being silly again?" she asked as she picked him up.

-

Against Leo's wishes, Phoebe had gone into the house where Leo had found what was left of the man they had been looking for. She was now wishing that she hadn't. Leo had put a sheet over the body but it didn't help. They had sent Chris to the Elders to tell them what had happened.

"I can't believe that something like this could be allowed to happen" Phoebe said quietly. Leo picked up what looked like a small diary.

"Phoebe, I know that this is bad, but all that we can do now is stop Barbas and the Darklighter from summoning the beast, whatever it is"

"Whatever it is, it means enough to that Demon for him to wipe this whole place off the map" Phoebe said bitterly. Leo silently put a hand on her shoulder and orbed them away from that horrible place.


End file.
